Hand-brake for railway-cars



w. A. QEIGER. HAND BRAKE FOR` RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4I i920.

, Patented May 24, 1921.

iiI

II L II UNITED STATES PATENT. -oFF1cE.-

WILLIAM A. GQEIGER, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORYTO WILLIAM H. MINER,0]!" CI-IAZY, NEW YORK.

HAND-BRAKE FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Specicatonof Letters Patent. Patented lVIay 24, 1921.1

Application led February 4, 1920. Serial No. 356,258.

To all @l2/1.0m it may concern.'

Be it -known `that I, WILLIAM A. Gnrenn, a citizen of United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Hand-Brakes forRailway-Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, andexact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming` a part of this speciiication. V Y

This invention relates to improvements in hand brakes for railway cars.

The object of the invention is toprovide a simple, practical andsubstantially weatherproof hand brake of the vertical staff type forrailway cars and wherein is employed anV operating handle adapted toassume an inoperative position, under the influence of gravity.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is avertical part sec tional view, part elevational view of a portion of acar showing my improvements in connection therewith. `The end wall ofthe ear and the housingl are shown in section, the other parts being inelevation. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken sub-d stantiallyon the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Y Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view takensubstantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, the operating handle beingshown in section in Fig. 3 on the assumption that the operating handleis in its horizontalfoperative position. Figg is a detail sectional viewshowing another arrangement for mounting the Opf erating handle andpawl.

In said drawing, 10 denotes the end 'wall of a car, such as a gondola,11 the usual platform or step for the brakeman, and 12 the usualvertical brake staff. vAs is well understood in the art, the vverticalbrake .staff usually has a drum at the bottom thereof around which thechainleading tothe brake beam winds. As isalso customary, the brakestaff is provided with a lratchetwheel 13 adjacent the platform 11 andwith which is adaptedy to coperate a foot-controlled locking dog (notshown).

In carrying out my invention, Iprovide asuitable bearing vbracket 1 4near the upper end of the staff 12, said bracket 14 being secured in anysuitable manner to the wall of the car and provided with va bearing-forthe staff. Above the bearing bracket 14, the staff 12 is provided with asquared section 15 on which is mounted a ratchet wheel 16. Abovetheratchet wheel 16 the staff 12 is provided with acylindrical section ofreduced vdiameteras indicated at 17.

Coperable with the ratchet Vwheel 16 is a pawl 18which is preferablyformed integrally Vwith an operating handle' 19. Said combined pawl andhandle 19 is pivotally mounted on a pivot pin 2O carried by aAsupporting member 21, the latter in turn `being pivotally mounted abouta horizontal axis onl the two elements designated by the references AAand B, the latter being oscillatably mounted on the staff .12, ashereinafter explained. Also mounted on the staff 12 and adapted to forma suitable weather-protecting shield for vthe ratchet wheel .andassociated parts, is a housing 22, the same having a bearing asindicated at 23 on the staff 12 so as to permit thehousing to oscillate.All of the parts are heldv in assembled relation on the staff byanysuitable meanssuch as the washer 24 yand nut 25, the upper end of thestaff be-y ing preferably upsetover the nut asi `dicated at26. 4

The members lA and B are offU-shape or forked construction and are ofsubstantially` similar 'construction although not identical. The memberA has an upper arm 27 having a suitable bore to fit on the section 17 ofthestaff and a lower arm 28 also suitably bored to fit the main portionof the staff. The element B is similarly provided with an lupperhorizontally extending arm 2S) bored 'hanger 21 therebetween as shown inFigs.

2 and.4 The hanger 21 is preferably pro-1 vided with integrally formedlugs 31--31` which are yaccommodated .in 'corresponding openings 4in theelements A and B, said lugs being riveted over at their ends asindicated at 32 and thereby forming .pivotal support for the member 21and simultaneously holding the elements A and B and hanger 21 in properassembled relation.

The hanger 21 is formed with an opening 33 therein to accommodate thehandle 19, the opening 33 being suitably beveled on opposite sides ofthe pivot 20 as indicated at 341-34 in Fig. 2, to permit the oscillatorymovements of the combined pawl and handle 18-19. It will be noted thatthe axes of the pivots for the hanger 21 and of the combined operatingpawl and handle are at right angles to each other. The pawl 18, proper,is preferably offset or arranged at an angle with respect to the handle19, as indicated in Fig. 2 and said pawl will also preferably have a lug35 which will coperate with a vertical wall 36 of the housing` to limitthe swinging movements of the handle 19 toward the staff, when thehandle is in inoperative condition.

As will be understood from the preceding description in connection withthe drawing, the operating handle 19 and pawl 18 will automaticallyassume inoperative positions under the influence of gravity. lVhen it isdesired to tighten the brake, the brakeman lifts the handle 19 to thehorizontal position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1 which will bringthe pawl 18 into the plane of the ratchet wheel 16 and permit ofcoperating ratcheting action with respect thereto, as the bralremanoscillates the handle 19 backward and forward. The brake chain or staff12 is held against reverse rotation by the ratchet wheel 13 andfoot-controlled locking dog (not shown).

With my construction, the parts may be readily assembled on a bracketstaff such as are now most commonly used'and a satisfactory housing forall of the parts is obtained without any appreciable additional expenseand in this connection it will be noted that the housing will oscillatein accordance with the oscillation of the element-s A and B which fitmore or Aless snugly within the housing, as indicated by the crosssectioned outline of the housing in Fig. 2.

In the construction shown in Fig. 4, the hanger 121 for the operatinghandle is made of substantially U-shape without any integral pivotforming lugs. The pivotal support for the hanger 121 in the elements Aand B is obtained by a separate rivet or pin 131 headed at its ends asindicated at 132. l/Vith this construction, the pivot for the operatinghandle 119 may be obtained by an integral lug 120 on the hanger 121. Inthis constructiomthe handle 119 will be held in proper position withrespect to the hanger 121 by the rivet pin 131 which passes over the topof the lug 120. The hanger 121 is of somewhat simpler form than thatshown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

I claim: 1. In a brake of the vertical staff type for railway cars, thecombination with a vertical staff having a ratchet wheel rotatable inunison therewith, of a pawl coperable with said ratchet wheel, and meansfor supporting said pawl to permit its bodily oscillation in ahorizontal plane with respect to said staff, said means including twoelements each independently journaled on said staff, and a support forsaid pawl carried by said two elements.

2. In a hand brake of the Vvertical staff type for railway cars, thecombination with a vertical staff having a ratchet wheel near the topthereof rotatable in unison therewith, of a pawl coperable with saidratchet wheel, two elements separately journaled on said staff, asupport carried by said elements and on which said pawl is oscillatablymounted, and a housing oscillatably mounted on said staff, said housingfitting over the ratchet wheel and portions of said elements andoscillatable in unison with the latter.

3. In a hand brake of the vertical staff type for railway cars,thecombination with a vertical staff having a ratchet wheel near the topthereof rotatable in unison therewith, of two forked elements straddlingsaid ratchet wheel and independently oscillatably mounted on the staff,a hanger piv-` otally mounted on Vsaid elements and in line with saidratchet wheel, and a combined pawl and operating handle pivotallymounted on said hanger about an axis which extends vertically when thepawl and handle are in operative position.

4. In a hand brake of the -vertical sta-ff type for railway cars, thecombination with a vertical staff having a ratchet wheel near the'topthereof rotatable in unison therewith, of two U-shaped elements eachhaving the arms thereof journaled on the staff, said elements extendingoutward beyond the periphery of the ratchet wheel, a hanger pivotallymounted on said elements to swing about a horizontal axis and a combinedpawl and operating handle pivotally mounted on said hanger about an axiswhich extends vertically when the hanger 'is in vertical position andwith the operating handle in a horizontal position.

5. In a hand brake of the vertical staff type for railway cars, thecombination with a vertical staff having a ratchet wheel near the topthereof rotatable in unison therewith, of two U-shaped elements eachhaving the arms thereof journaled on the staff, said elements extendingoutward beyond the periphery of the ratchet wheel, a hanger pivizootally mounted on said elements to swing tion and with the operatinghandle inaJ horil In Witness that I claim the foregoing I zontalposition, and a housing oscillatably have hereunto subscribed my namethis mounted on the staff at the top thereof, said 80th day of January1920. housino' ttino' over the ratchet Wheel and 5 said eltegmentsthehousing being oseillatable WILLIAM' A GEIGER in conjunction With thelatter Withrespect VVitneSs: to the staff. META SCHMIDT.

